Matthew Bollinger
For almost twenty years, R. Matthew Bollinger has been working with site, process, and architectural metaphor amidst tradition and technology – to create paintings that feel both poetic and structural.
Born in Germany and raised in Denver, Bollinger received his BAFA and Master of Architecture from the University of New Mexico and his MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. Bollinger has exhibited nationally, including at the Lakewood Cultural Arts Center in Colorado, Amarillo Museum of Art in Texas, Augusta Savage Gallery at UMass Amherst in Massachusetts, and Harwood Art Center in New Mexico. He currently lives and works in the American Southwest and is an Assistant Professor of Art and Design at Diné College, a tribally controlled academic institution serving the Navajo Nation.
STATEMENT
In 2020 I envisioned and created a series of portraits of Missing Indigenous Women, using imagery and information from the NM/AZ Missing Persons Database. In total, I completed six 48” x 36” interdisciplinary paintings on canvas (collage-driven drawing with deconstructed, re-purposed photographs - some dating almost 100 years old).
I work with the Navajo Nation as an art educator. Through this experience, I work with many Native American students in art studio courses. It is my job to help them find their artistic voices. In the classroom, I would occasionally have conversations with my students regarding the #MMIW epidemic. Those conversations inspired me to complete the six portraits, to bring awareness and memoriam.
Through this community-inspired project, my aim was to begin and continue the conversation regarding #MMIW in the local Albuquerque community and beyond. I wanted the victims to be remembered with appropriate discretion regarding identity.
